Charity gets £20k boost from businessman moved by children’s Covid-hit Santa trip reports

Britt Megahey, founder and managing director of Barclay Communications, was moved when he read recent local press articles about the Northern Ireland Children to Lapland and Days to Remember Trust’s decision to cancel its annual flight to see Santa in Rovaniemi because of Covid-19.

The charity, which has taken over 1,200 ill and vulnerable NI children to Lapland over the past 12 years, vowed to ‘keep the magic alive’ this Christmas with a temporary initiative ‘Three Steps To Christmas’.

The campaign has called on health trusts to nominate 100 deserving children to receive some extra special presents from the charity while their siblings can join in the festivities as they too receive a smaller gift.

Each child will receive gifts to the value of £200 as well as a personal letter from Santa. This will be followed up by a video greeting from the man himself, from his home in Lapland.

Learning of the project, Britt Megahey was so moved he decided to fund the entire initiative.

He said: “We have always admired the work that the Northern Ireland Children to Lapland and Days to Remember Trust does and to hear they couldn’t fulfil their annual commitment of taking more than 100 vulnerable children to Lapland and how their hard efforts to raise funds had been met with many challenges, we wanted to do what we could to help.

“Children have been impacted drastically by the Covid-19 pandemic. Their social and sporting activities have been halted, they lost months of education and for those children with vulnerabilities their lives have taken a greater hit and we feel we have an obligation to give back to those who need it most and at a time when children should be enjoying what should be the most magical time of the year.”

The charity, founded by the late Jack Rodgers MBE from Larne, thanked the telecommunications firm for its generosity.

Colin Barkley, chair NICLT, said:“While these are difficult and unprecedented times, we can’t and won’t allow the magic of Christmas to be diminished for these wonderful children which is why we created the Three Steps to Christmas campaign. To have that funded by Barclay Communications is a real gift for us because, like all charities our fundraising efforts have been restricted.

“This generous donation from Britt Megahey will fund those 100 gifts that will go to some of Northern Ireland’s most special children. It will allow us to bring the magic of Christmas to these children without the pressure of wondering how we will fund our next endeavour.”

The support from the wider community is welcome too as the charity plans ahead for next year.

Gerry Kelly, president NICLT, explained: “The Northern Ireland Children to Lapland and Days to Remember Trust receives no Government or Lottery funding and is totally self-funded, relying on the generosity of individuals and companies across NI who very much identify with our aims and with the type of children we support.

“Their support once again this year has been amazing and, combined with Barclay Communications’ magnificent gesture, allows us to start making ambitious plans for 2021. If circumstances allow, we are hoping to take an even larger group than originally anticipated to Disneyland in Paris as well as our annual trip to Lapland.”

Click here to read: Christmas will still be magical for vulnerable children, vows Lapland Trust charity

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